CA for Social Change

We are committed to using Community Acupuncture in relationship with other Social Change events and programs

(2012) Friday morning women's Community Acupuncture group, with Bo Yih Thom:

Through a generous donation of space on friday mornings, we are now able to offer free weekly community acupuncture sessions to groups of women who are interested in addressing trauma or substance use though acupuncture, in a space that is actually designed and held for such work!

The group is open to people recieving income support who have accessed services from Breakaway or other partner agencies, and who are interested in committing to an intensive acupuncture series to address trauma, survivorship, and/or substance use.

Please contact info@pokeme.ca for more information.

(2010) Post G20 Treatments - Community healing among Toronto Citizens:

Following the Days of Action, we offered pay what you can, de-stress and detox treatments to any protesters, organizers or individuals affected by the G20 Economic Summit of world leaders. In the past, communities around the world have been affected by these summits as they take place and long after they end. Acupuncture can be used to reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress, to help speed the clearing of the effects of tear gas or other chemicals, to heal injury and in general help individuals, families, and communities regroup. We need to be sure to take care of ourselves as the work and commitment it takes to be involved in these actions can deplete us and can lead to burnout.

(2009) De-stress treatments at the Trigger Festival:

The Trigger Collective is a militantly unapologetic group of performers, facilitators, speakers, musicians and activists who transform Bread & Circus Theatre with outrageous interactive performances reclaiming the notion of the queer survivor through art as activism and activism as art. We were fortunate enough to be included at this festival which included creative ways to unpack and explore social issue such as living in a fat-phobic culture - how to negotiate feelings and identities of self-worth and sexiness, a panel discussion on queer refugees, and a homo knit-in. We did a workshop on acupuncture as a tool to restore and balance all aspects of self in order to learn self-awareness that helps us move into our sensuality and sexuality.

There actually wasn't much discussion or talking in this workshop situated at the end of the day as a way to help participants re-group and get into their bodies after a long day of workshops. We had a circle of about 20 people who came and went. The energy in the room was deeply calming, and it was interesting to be a large group and felt cohesive and connected without necessarily interacting.

(2008) ReachOUT, Griffin Centre, organizational retreat:

This hardworking team of 12 members had their organizational retreat at Six Degrees. They spent the day doing group building & visioning exercises. Unlike, other years they wanted to include some self-care at their annual retreat. We discussed what "self-care" meant to them, and how this could be more easily incorporated into their daily lives. We had a session of "Acupuncture 101" to cover basic concepts such as Yin and Yang energy, and how Acupuncture helps to harmonize this ever shifting balance. The day ended with a 1 hour relaxing, de-stress treatment.

One of the interesting discussions was how Yin and Yang balance can be seen in their team with different members having different energy patterns and how this contributes and affects the team. One member said, so you can see some people having more of a yin personality, like more of a listener and observer and another person being more yang-like, which is more extroverted, and out spoken. Both energies are necessary in a team process and how much of one or the other changes according to the tasks at hand, personality type, and how a person chooses to behave.

A part of good self-care is understanding this balance within ourselves and the team. Sometimes we need to be more yin or yang but both are necessary, and this applies to team dynamics and processes. If every one on the team is extroverted, talking at once, and making their points yin may be compromised which is listening to what has been said, reflecting, and seeing the "big picture" of the issue. If everyone is yin-like there will be much contemplation, seeing an issue from every angle, without enough decisiveness or action to get the job done. ReachOUT is a creative, inclusive & accessible program that support lesbian, gay, bisexual,transgender, transsexual, two-spirited, intersex, queer and questioning (LGBTT2IQQ) youth.

Kids Poke Back:

We used CA with children grades 3 - 6 at Alpha Alternative School in a 4 hour workshop designed to cover what Qi is, how to make Qi balls, and Acupuncture 101. We worked with 2 classes of mixed ages & grades. In the first class, the younger children had no difficulty with the concept of Qi and how this energy flows in and between us. They went through basic qicong standing and breathing postures. Moving Qi up from the earth, through their legs and into their lungs as they stretched their arms out to the front. Qi balls were made by putting their palms close together & slowly pulling them apart. After a short while a dense, warm, gooey feeling can be felt between the palms. This is Qi. They stood in a circle and shared their Qi with the person beside them palm to palm.

Surprisingly, many of the kids wanted to get poked! This surprised their teacher and practitioners. One 12 year old, wanted to insert the needle herself. The practitioner held the needle and let her tap it in the Hegu (acupuncture point on hand to relieve pain) point on her hand!

Hepatitis C Support Group - Parkdale Community Health Centre:

Acupuncture is extremely effective at dealing with addictions and offers drugless, non-intrusive detoxification. The NADA protocol is a whole body system that uses points on the ear. It impacts us on a physical, mental, and spiritual level. We've offered this treatment to support groups in a number of community health centers in Toronto. One of the benefits of doing this at community centers is fostering awareness of how powerful our Qi is.

Working with homeless or hard to house citizens who may have multiple infections, addictions and a mental emotional illness is powerful work. In this particular workshop, one member of the group was able to feel really calm and relaxed. The group watched and commented on how he was able to sit for over 20 minutes when he usually can not. In less than an hour's time he went from "10 - to 2" in his words. He was amazed at how calm he felt. We discussed how we can access our Qi (vital energy) even when we're very sick. This bodily experience of our vital energy was empowering for him and for those of us who witnessed it.  We continue to offer this workshop at no cost to community health centers.

"Acupuncture in the Park" at The Yard Sale, Trinity- Bellwoods Park:

an annual community event where people sell and reuse clothing and furniture. We wanted to do acupuncture under the trees and show how acupuncture can be done in any setting. We offered pay what you can treatments to people at the yard sale or passing by. We hoped it would offer people who wouldn't normally consider alternative medicine, or acupuncture a chance to experience it. It was interesting to answer queries about acupuncture and watch the expressions of people who have always wondered but never saw what acupuncture looks like, and how safe and painless it is.